“Adopted from the wonderful Hugs Foundation our lovely cob mare, Bonnie, who has become the best friend of a little girl isolated from her school friends. with no siblings and also unable to attend her usual riding lessons. Bonnie has done us and Hugs proud.”

Bonnie’s adoptive owner

Howie arrived with Heathcliffe in 2023. He had previously had a little handling and was already gelded. He was a better weight than Heath but had a horrific lice infestation and sore skin. Howard was very nervous of humans so we had to go back to basics. He proved to be is a very inquisitive and loving pony in the end and has found a spectacular home.

Prince came to us after unfortunate circumstances led him to being abandoned by his owner. He had a very cheeky character and was incredibly handsome. He is one of the very lucky ponies that found their forever families during the coronavirus pandemic. We love seeing his updates, he looks very happy in his new home, which is what Hugs is all about, finding ponies their happy ever after.  

Moomin arrived at Hugs in March 2020 with 3 other horses that were rescued from Surrey with the help of another charity and funding from the awesome Network for Animals. They had been abandoned and were in awful condition, covered in dirt with matted coats, lice and intestinal worms. He was an entire boy when he arrived and had a very complicated castration which resulted in a big operation. He featured on our Facebook Live project, A Daily Hug and had his own episode ‘Moo’s News on a Tues.’ He has been lucky to find an amazing forever home where he is very much enjoying life.

Jessie was rescued with a group of young ponies who were abandoned. He grew into a very sweet, quiet boy and even learnt a few tricks with Hannah. He had a few very cute spots that appeared on his hindquarters as he got older. Due to his confirmation, he was available as a companion only and in April 2021, he found an amazing home.

Ella arrived at Hugs totally wild with a few other moorland rescues. When she first arrived, Ella, or Cruella, when naughty, was incredibly nervous and quite defensive with it, kicking and panicking with human interactions. Over time she became one of the friendliest ponies at Hugs, often being the first over for nose tickles and entertaining. She was incredibly lucky to find a wonderful home with her friend DJ.

Margaret was one of the group that came in with Pickle. She was very lucky to be offered a foster home in winter 2020 and returned to Hugs in spring 2021 with a new confidence and lovely manners. She grew into an incredibly beautiful pony and found her family in January 2023. We can’t wait to see what the future holds for this stunning mare.

Jigsaw was born at Hugs. His mum was the lovely Frances who also found her forever home. Jigsaw was a very lucky boy and has been rehomed by one of our staff members, they just couldn’t resist his cuteness!

Hermione came to Hugs at just 3 months old and was sadly orphaned alongside Hay Jude and Fitzherbert. This beautiful pony had been with us for over a year and we are thrilled to see how well she’s settled into her new home.

Humbug came into Hugs with a group of 12 ponies that had been surrendered by their owner as they could no longer look after them. He was our 100th rescue to be rehomed and the last of the Dartmoor Dozen group! He waited a little while longer for a home, due to being an older gentleman, but we are so pleased he has found such a lovely family to give him the retirement he deserves.

Jeremy (bay Arab, turning grey) came to Hugs, with his mother Jollie, through the RSPCA. They had no other foals to wean Jeremy with, so he came to Hugs to be with our other foals and make the weaning process easier for him. We are pleased to say that he has found a wonderful home with another Arab youngster.

Audrey and Alexa have had some good news! These two have now gone off to their new home together and are living in the lap of luxury. These two came to Hugs in October 2021 as very young foals, unclaimed after the Dartmoor Drifts. They were too young to be away from their mums and so the cull pen awaited them. Luckily Hugs stepped in and took them and their friends (a total of 9 foals) and the team worked hard to bring all of them back to health. Audrey and Alexa were incredibly lucky to go to their new home together on new adventures. 

Mono was surrendered to Hugs when his owner sadly passed away. His previous owner had been a huge supporter of Hugs and had also adopted one of our ponies called Huckleberry (who has also been rehomed). She had both ponies for several years and gave them a wonderful home. We were very lucky to find Mono a fantastic forever home where he causes a lot of mischief but he is very much loved.  

Huckleberry was rescued as an orphan foal in 2019. He found an amazing home with Mono (above) but sadly their rehomer passed away in 2022. He came back to Hugs and has been very lucky to be rehomed by our Youth Well-being Manager, Hazel for her young niece.  

Blue was surrendered with pony, Eliza, when their previous owner could no longer provide the time they needed. Blue was always very people orientated and loved learning new things. He is now in a lovely home and has a new best friend.

Gordon came to us in December 2022. He was the eldest in his bunch but was scared and very worried about human interactions. We worked hard to gain his confidence and he became an absolute super star. Gordon was rehomed in 2023 and is continuing his training and gain confidence every day. 

Annie and her friends were in a poor and sorry state. Underneath her thick matted coats was just skin and bone. The little herd were constantly being monitored by Hugs staff, on four feeds each a day and had three paddocks of grass to graze to help build their strength up and start gaining weight. Annie was only a year old when she came to us and had an awful start to life. When she arrived at Hugs she didn’t know how to be caught, groomed, led… let alone someone touch her feet!

Along her rehabilitation journey she learnt all these things. She also had rugs on and even became so relaxed that we dressed her up as a Christmas present for our Christmas open day! She is just FAB and in July 2020 she found her forever home. Good luck Annie and her new family, we can’t wait to watch you grow up and see what your future brings ?.

See her journey in the video above.

Biscuit was rescued just before the 2019 Chagford sales. Every year many ‘drifts’ occur across the moors. Here the moor ponies are rounded up by the farmers/owners and separated into their own stock. Biscuit was around 2 months old when she came to Hugs, far too young to be away from her mum. They all had huge worm burdens plus eye infections and severe rainscald! Unfortunately for Biscuit, her immune system was very run down and she was covered in infected scabs from rainscald so she was clipped and had medicated baths to treat in and help kill the bacteria. Luckily she fully recovered with no permanent damage. We did a lot of handling work with the rescues so they got used to having headcollars on (to make administration of medication easier!) plus we slowly got them used to being stroked and brushed. Biscuit found her home in August 2020. She is growing into a stunning pony with a very confident cheeky character. She’s always interested in what’s happening and we can’t wait to see what she gets up to with her new family.

Hugs rescued Paddy (right in photo) and Guinness (left) in November 2017. They were only a few months old and were so weak that they could barely stand! They found an amazing home together but sadly, due to no fault of their own, they ended up back at Hugs. Guinness was lucky enough to find his forever home in 2021 and is enjoying life with his new family.

Fitzherbert arrived at Hugs with Hermione and Hay Jude (now rehomed). They were orphan foals so needed a lot of extra care. He was wild on arrival and found it hard to trust humans so his training was a slow, steady progress. In September 2021, he found a lovely home to continue his education. 

Lovely Luna was an incredibly sweet mare that was rescued in a big welfare case with another charity. She found her home in March 2022 and we are excited to see what the future holds for her.

Noddy was surrendered to Hugs by his previous owner who could no longer care for him. Sadly, he had suffered with severe laminitis, which had caused his pedal bone to rotate and eventually fracture under the pressure. Through his rehabilitation at Hugs he lost over 14 stone on our track system and between that and specialist shoes, he was able to be rehomed.

Pudding was surrendered to Hugs as part of an RSPCA case. He had no horse social skills as he had been kept on his own. the team worked hard during his rehabilitation, to help him learn horse language so he could make horsey friends. He found a fab home in January 2023 and has settled in well with his new friend.

Lettie came in with a group of cobs that had been part of a large welfare case. She had not been handled and took a while to trust humans but in 2023 she was a very lucky girl and found her perfect home.

Gherkin arrived at Hugs last year as part of the orphan foal group. He grew into a stunning yearling who has been wonderful to work with. He’s grown in confidence and found a lovely home with another youngster and has settled in brilliantly.

Autumn came in with the October 2021 orphan foals. She was the youngest of the group at just 2 months old so required a lot of additional care and love. She has grown into a lovely young pony and has found a fab home.

Natasha was part of the Doncaster trio who were part of a huge multi-agency rescue. Natasha and her friends arrived in terrible condition. She blossomed whilst in Hugs care and became a wonderful little easy mare. She’s found a beautiful home as a companion and after a few cheeky initial moments, she’s settled in wonderfully!

Arthur was rehomed last year but sadly came back to us due to his rehomers loss of grazing. He has since found an amazing home and has headed off for lots of adventures. 

Gina was our biggest girl from the orphan foals from 2022. Gina is a very confident young lady and has proven that in her new home as well. She has blossomed into a very eye catching little filly .

“Our new companion pony did not take long to settle in and she is now the boss. Hugs provided all the information about Ferns character and everything was spot on. She has been an absolute delight and we all love her very much already. She is about have some training and hopefully be ridden in the near future. We promise to give regular updates on her progress. ❤?”

Fern’s adoptive owner

Moana was one of five ponies rescued by Hugs after being abandoned fly grazing. They all arrived pregnant with terrible feet, lice, worms and in poor condition. She was well known for being absolutely huge during pregnancy and her foal, Lottie (now known as Duchess and also in a fab home), was absolutely beautiful and a complete mini me.

Angelica was one of our ‘Dartmoor Dozen,’ a group of ponies that were surrendered to Hugs as their owner could no longer look after them. She was unhandled when she arrived so the team worked with her to gain her trust and increase her confidence. In June 2021 she went off to her forever home and the team couldn’t have been prouder of how far she had come. Good luck Jelly!

Taz was surrendered to Hugs in 2021 as his owner could no longer care for him. He was a very eye catching spotty and as such, had been very spoilt in his younger years, so needed to work on his manners and boundaries! He loved human attention and was always the first to come trotting over to you in the field. It didn’t take him long to find his home!

Billie was part of the herd that came into us with Star. He was the second of the group to find a home. He was a very nervous chap but very sweet and has landed on his feet with a fab home. 

Harvey has been rehomed and is thriving in his new home. We love seeing the updates and all the beautiful pictures (he always was a poser!). 

Murphy came into Hugs early in 2021 when his owner sadly passed away. He was still a stallion so he had to be gelded and given some time to recover and mature. He was full of character and a firm favourite with the staff here. He went to his fab home in April 2022.

Basil was abandoned in Surrey with another colt foal and a 3 year old stallion. They were rescued by another charity but unfortunately, they didn’t have the room to rehabilitate them, so all three of them came to Hugs! Basil found his forever home in June 2022.

Hugs rescued Paddy in November 2017. He was only a few months old and so weak that he could barely stand! He is a gorgeous boy with a big character and has now found his forever home.

Musto had been owned by the same lady for over 19 years (since he was 5 years old) but unfortunately, she passed away a few months ago leaving Musto without an owner. His livery yard then sold him to a family who wanted to bring him into some more work but he fractured his splint bone and had to have several weeks of box rest. The family decided that with his age (24) and injury he would no longer be suitable for their needs but, as he would face an uncertain future if they were to sell him, they contacted Hugs. We felt so sorry for him and the fact that his life had been turned upside down in such a short space of time we had to take him in. Musto found a perfect retirement home in December 2022.

Dobby was rescued in 2020 with 3 other horses (including Moomin and Dickinson) that were rescued from Surrey with the help of another charity and funding from the awesome Network for Animals. They had been abandoned and were in awful condition, covered in dirt with matted coats, lice and intestinal worms. Dobby was extremely nervous of people but tried so hard to be brave and trust us. He sadly kept getting overlooked due to his nervous nature but in February 2023 the perfect home came along. It is just the best news that he has finally found his family!

Lottie was born at Hugs in 2020. She was affectionately nicknamed ‘Lottie Long Legs’ as she was born with the longest legs ever on a foal! She has finally grown into them now though!

Lottie has recently been rehomed with Idris and has started her driving career, she is doing amazingly well and we can’t wait to hear about their adventures in the future.